DHL Western Province fought back from a halftime deficit to claim a hard-fought 25-20 Absa Currie Cup win over GWK Griquas in Kimberley on Saturday.
Having trailed by 0-12 in the first half, an Ederies Arendse try (on debut) just before halftime gave DHL WP the confidence they needed heading into the second half.
They slowly took control in the second half, as a 54th-minute JP du Plessis try levelled the scores at 15-15.
A great try by Steven Kitshoff under the uprights just over ten minutes later, from a well-timed Marcel Brache pass, put DHL WP in the lead for the first time, with Demetri Catrakilis converting and adding another penalty to make it 25-15 after 71 minutes.
A late try by Griquas replacement Wilmaure Louw narrowed the gap to 25-20 but after Catrakilis’s restart DHL WP spoilt the ball on the ground and the final whistle was blown.
The DHL WP scorers:
Tries: Arendse, Du Plessis, Kitshoff
Cons: Catrakilis 2
Pens: Catrakilis 2
The DHL Western Province team: 15 Gio Aplon, 14 Gerhard van den Heever, 13 JP du Plessis, 12 Marcel Brache, 11 Ederies Arendse, 10 Demetri Catrakilis, 9 Louis Schreuder, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Jebb Sinclair, 6 Tyrone Holmes, 5 De Kock Steenkamp, 4 Don Armand, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Deon Fourie (captain), 1 Steven Kitshoff.
Replacements: 16 Siyabonga Ntubeni, 17 Brok Harris, 18 Wilhelm van der Sluys, 19 Yaya Hartzenberg, 20 Nic Groom, 21 Kurt Coleman, 22 Damian de Allende.